Mary Harney: Unlikely to ever appear in the dock.

Dublin city councillor showed no remorse today when she was found guilty of assaulting former Health Minister Mary Harney who was splattered with red paint at a hospital last November.

Harney had paint thrown at her, covering parts of her clothes, neck, chest and hands, during a sod-turning ceremony for a new primary care and mental health unit at Cherry Orchard Hospital in west Dublin, on November 1 last.

As the nation went to the polls Harney, who did not seek re-election, was called by the State to give evidence against Dublin City Councillor Louise Minihan.

The 29-year-old councillor with an address at Knock Riada, Chapelizod, in Dublin, who is a member of the socialist republican Eirigí party, had pleaded not guilty to assaulting the former health minister and criminal damage to her clothing, which were worth €600 to €800.

Judge Ann Watkin heard at the Dublin District Court that Minihan accepted the facts of the case but claimed she had been engaging in a “political protest.”

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The high value claimed for Ms. Harney’s clothing should not be taken as a sign of the ministers well know penchant for extravagance. Critics have failed to take into account the quantity of material claimed for as opposed to the quality.

Coincidentally on the day this story broke voters were engaged in a sod turning exercise themselves.